Dipak Das

In January 2012, University of Connecticut officials announced that Das, director of the Cardiovascular Research Center, had fabricated his research 145 times in papers published in 11 scientific journals. Das studied the effects of a compound in red wine, resveratrol, on the heart.

The university launched an investigation of Das’ work in 2008 after an anonymous tip raised questions about images in his papers, which were turned out to be manipulated. In its 60,000 page report, the investigators say some of the images were created at a time when there wasn’t anyone in the lab with the proper expertise to generate them, and that Das divided the work on experiments so that even lead authors of papers weren’t fully involved in preparing data and figures. Das testified to the investigators that he had no knowledge of the manipulations, a claim that the panel says “lacks credibility.” The report was filed with the U.S. Office of Research Integrity, which is conducting its own investigation into the fraud. As for Das, a university spokesperson said he “remains employed by the UConn Health Center pending dismissal proceedings per university bylaws.”